Do People Understand How to Eat for Healthy Eyesight?

How much does education about eye health reach lower socioeconomic consumers? A pilot study was conducted at an urban community health center to find out.

Exit surveys found that while most (83%) understood that diet was linked to healthy eyesight, far fewer knew about specific nutrients that could be of benefit. Omega-3 was the best known (recognized by only 43 %) with vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein, and zeaxanthin trailing even farther behind that (recognized by 32.7%).

The good news is that 73.3% reported they would take supplements or change eating habits to improve ocular health, and in fact when followed up a month later, 75% said they had made changes in their dietary choices because of the education they received during the study.